City of Smoke
by Cipher-of-Will
Summary: Seeing is believing...but what if you're the only one that can see them? Roxas stumbles into a world that is quite unfamiliar. Based on The Mortal Instruments. Will most likely contain yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this is my first fic and I'm mainly using this just to see what it looks like when I publish a story on fanfiction. Who knows, if people like it I might carry it on but right now it's just to get to grips with the layout. Who can guess what book this is based on? **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing yadda yadda ya..**

The music pounded through my body. Common sense told me that my ears would be ringing after this but my heart told me to sway to the beat, to forget my troubles.

The dance floor was filled with people like me; people who wanted to belong. Here I merged with the bodies and became one with the music.

Beside me, my friend Sora tried to dance but ended up looking awkward and totally out of place. I knew he didn't like clubs but hey, I didn't like his music practices but I still went.

The song changed this one with a slightly slower beat. I slowed my dancing to match the pace and looked around the room.

Most of the teenagers had their hair dyed wacky colours like sky blue or electric green. My naturally blonde hair stuck out slightly, the same as Sora's light brown hair did.

A man with scarlet hair caught my eye. He was probably the tallest guy in the room excluding the bouncers by the doors. He had styled his hair into long spikes, strangely reminding me of a Sonic character. Behind him I saw a slightly shorter boy and girl.

The guy had a mullet…or was it a Mohawk? The girl's hair made her look like a bug with the way two longer strands stuck out on top of her head. I wondered if she had wanted that effect…

Slowly, the trio made their way across the dance floor, their movements purposeful and by no means were they dancing. All off them had their eyes fixed on something in front of them. I followed their gazes and saw…. Something.

I stopped dancing altogether and stared at the strange creature. It was black and had huge antennas sticking out of its skull. I could have sworn its eyes were glowing yellow.

I looked back at the three teenagers who were still stalking towards the creature. They looked like predators stalking prey. I saw something glint in the girl's hand. It appeared that no one else had noticed what was going on as everyone else was still dancing.

Sora's voice drew me out of my state; I hadn't realized he'd been talking to me.

"Oh, and I wanted to you that I've been sleeping with your Mum. Just thought you should know."

_What?_

I turned and gave him a look of pure horror.

"Whoa, chill, Roxas. I only said that to get your attention. You weren't listening to me and I was saying that-"

"Sora," I cut him off. "Can you see those guys over there?" He stood up on his toes and peered over the heads of the surrounding teenagers. He looked at me and shook his head.

I saw the black creature slip through a door that had 'Supply Room' written on it in large letters.

The three teenagers were still in pursuit, heading straight for where the creature went.

"What are you looking at?" Sora asked, still failing to see the three teenagers.

I made a snap decision to see what was going on.

"I'll be right back," I told Sora and pushed my through the crowd of bodies, apologizing to everyone and keeping my head down. I saw the three enter the supply room and tried to somehow move faster.

I peered through the door and watched my eyes widened. The blonde haired girl had out a set of small knives and was launching them at the creature. The mullet haired guy held a large blue instrument that looked like a sort of guitar. He was beating the creature with it. The redhead held a pair of circular discs - chakrams - and was slicing the creature manically.

The creature let out a pained groan and was surrounded by a dark, swirling cloud. The mist of black disappeared and so had the creature. There was nothing left of it, not even blood.

The redhead grinned and turned towards the door but stopped when he saw me. I was in shock, unable to move. He took a side step to the left, my eyes following him.

_Move, for God's sake!_ I commanded myself but my feet would not obey.

The guy took a step to the right, my eyes still following him. His smirk had disappeared now, replaced by a more worried expression.

The mullet haired guy noticed the redheads movements and was about to say something to him until he saw me. His eyes widened for a second before his face returned to a relaxed state.

The girl turned to look at me and she too was caught be surprise. All of them stared at me, no one saying anything.

Eventually, the redhead spoke. "Well this could be a problem."

The girl scoffed, "Please, Heartless are a problem, this guy is just a minor nuisance that can be taken care of." She unsheathed her knives and advanced towards me.

That set off every warning bell in my body. Finally, my feet listened to me. I spun on my heel and ran. I ran like hell was after me.

I would have straight for the door but I had to grab Sora first.

He protested at being dragged out of the club but let me take him outside.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw the three teenagers looking around the club. Looking for me. I charged out of the door, my hand still firmly locked around Sora's wrist.

I ran about a hundred yards down the street before deeming it to be safe…at least for now.

"What was that?" Sora asked, looking as if he were unsure whether he should be angry with me or worried about me.

I shook my head slightly. "There were these teenagers that killed this black thing and then one of them said she was going to kill me!"

Sora looked confused but slowly nodded his head. "Okaaaay…I believe you.." he said rather unconvincingly.

I knew it was a crazy story but Sora had been my friend since childhood. I was hoping for at least a convincing lie that he believed me.

He sighed. "Hey, it's late, I'll call my Mum and ask her to pick us up." He pulled out his phone and rang his Mum.

Whatever had happened tonight sure was weird.


	2. Chapter 2

**It lives!**

**I have finally decided to try this out as a full fledged story - after some encouragement from girly-girl 12345 (Thank you for reviewing!) and my wonderful friends **** (you know who you all are) - so here we go.**

**Let's hope I do a good job!**

**And just so you know, the plot comes from Cassandra Clare's 'The Mortal Instruments'.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own kingdom hearts**

'_Ag-a-doo-doo-doo, push pineapple, shake the tree  
_

_Aga-doo-doo-doo, push pineapple, grind coffee  
_

_To the left, to the right-'_

What in the name of all that is holy was that noise coming from my phone?

Whatever it was, needed to stop.

_Now._

I charged in to my bedroom and rifled through my things until I found my mobile.

Sora Calling

I answered the call, silencing the ringtone at last!

"Hello?"

"**Hey, it's Sora. The band and I are going into town. Do you want to come?"**

"Yeah, sounds good. Shall I meet you there in half an hour?"

"**Yup, meet us outside the music shop. Okay? See you there!"**

"Okay. By the way, Sor, did you change my ringtone?"

No reply.

"Sora?"

Nothing.

I took the phone away from my ear to look at the screen.

Call Ended

Had he hung up on me?

And just to elaborate, there was a little icon of a phone being put down underneath the 'call ended' sign.

I was _so _going to hit him for that!

Wait, why was I acting like such a girl?

I really needed to get over stuff.

I pocketed my phone and shoved my wallet, my IPod, my keys and a CD I needed to return to Sora into a black and white chequered rucksack.

It took me about twenty minutes to walk into town so I should have left straight away to get there at the agreed time.

I didn't though.

As soon as I was about to turn the handle on the door, it swung open. I jumped backwards, nearly falling over.

"Jesus!"

"Actually it's just me."

I scowled at Cloud as he strutted in, carrying several shopping bags under one arm, meaning he had the other hand free to muss my hair as he walked past me.

Pushing his hand away and glowering earned me a smirk from him in return.

I didn't actually mind Cloud. He was like a father to me. I had no idea who or where my real father was - not that I cared. The only thing I knew about him was that he caused Aerith – my Mum - to cry sometimes.

On a few occasions I had walked in on her bawling her eyes out over a picture of my father she had forbidden me to look at. I had never searched for that photo – I didn't want to know his face.

Aerith walked in through the door next, struggling with the shopping.

I took a few bags out of her hands and set them down on the kitchen counter.

"Thank you, Roxas," she said and started to put away the shopping. "Were you alright on your own?"

"Of course I was." Honestly, I was fifteen and she was still unsure about leaving me home alone. I'd done it loads of times before.

"I was just making sure…"

"You know, I think Roxas can take care of himself now," Cloud said.

_Thank you, Cloud!_

I smiled at him but he wasn't looking at me. His gaze was on Aerith.

She looked sharply at him but his calm aura held.

"There are a lot of things that could happen; things Roxas couldn't handle," she said, glancing at me.

Well, that just killed any pride I felt right then. I knew what to do in a fire, if a burglar broke in and if I got hurt.

It was pretty much the same solution for all of them: _999 _(911 if you're American)

The two looked at each other for a minute before Cloud succumbed to her.

"Yeah, maybe…" he said and went to put the milk in the fridge.

He didn't sound sure though. It sounded like he still thought he was right. For as long as I had known Cloud, I knew he didn't like to be the loser. He would do everything he could to win a fight.

He called it 'survival instincts'.

I called him a 'sore loser'.

Knowing I had already wasted five minutes I tried to set off for town again. But alas, God hates me today.

"Where are you going?" Aerith inquired.

"To town. With Sora and his band."

"Ah, he's still got the band going, eh?" Cloud said.

Before I could answer Aerith interrupted:

"No."

"What? Why?" I asked, startled. "Is this because of last night?"

Although Sora and I had left the club sooner than we planned to, Aerith still said I had been out for far too long.

We had fought for a while; her saying it was too dangerous to be out that late, me saying I was old enough to be out late.

To be honest, I was still a bit upset with her for making such a big deal.

But now she wasn't letting me go out? In the _early_ afternoon?

"I need you to stay home and not go out for the next few weeks."

Hold on, she said 'weeks.' Not 'days' _– 'weeks'._

I knew I'd been home quite late last night. But it was barely midnight – uh _1:45_ – and I was being grounded for weeks?

"Weeks? Specifically how many weeks?"

She paused.

"Five or six, maybe more."

Forget weeks, I was being grounded for over a _month!_

"Why?" I asked again, making it very clear I was upset.

"It's difficult to explain but if we can we should be at the villa in only one or two weeks."

Was it just me or was she making no sense at all?

So I wasn't allowed to go outside, but apparently that didn't matter because we would be at our holiday home in a couple of weeks?

The holiday home we only go to in the summer? The one we are now apparently going to in the middle of March?

"What's going on?"

"Look," she snapped, making me shrink back instinctively. "I just need you to stay indoors. We'll go to the villa and then you can go outdoors."

"You know school starts again soon. Will we back in time for that?"

Call me weird, but I actually kind of liked school. That and I knew Aerith would never let me miss a day of it – not for anything.

"I'll phone the school and tell them we'll be away for a few weeks."

"Weeks as in three or four weeks? A month?"

She nodded.

"I have exams," I muttered.

"You can take them later."

She turned away from me, making it clear the conversation wouldn't be continued.

I looked longingly at the door.

So just like that, I wasn't allowed to go outdoors.

Even though I knew I had exasperated my Mum enough, I still carried on:

"You haven't told me exactly _why_ you're not letting me out yet."

It wasn't really a question, more of a statement, but it was obvious I wanted an answer.

"I'll tell you later." She gritted out.

I had never seen her so worked up before or so secretive. Usually she would tell me everything with calm and patience.

I looked to Cloud for help but he seemed to be avoiding looking at me.

I caught his eye but all he had to say was:

"Go to your room, Roxas."

I dragged myself into my room and flopped down on to my bed.

What was going on? Why were they both acting so strangely?

If I was going to be grounded she could at least tell me _why_.

Well if she wasn't going to explain I wasn't going to be obedient.

I retrieved my rucksack from where I had dropped it on the floor earlier and crept out of my room.

I heard hushed voices coming from the living room.

I listened for a minute but I couldn't hear everything they were saying.

One voice – Cloud – was saying something about 'It's that time again' and the other voice –Aerith - said a name: Zexion.

I thought little of it though as I had no familiarity with that name.

Once safely past the living room door and in the kitchen, I scribbled a quick note and laid it down on the counter.

_Gone into town with Sora. Won't be back late._

_Roxas_

I didn't want Aerith or Cloud phoning the police saying I had run away or something.

All I wanted to do was enjoy a last taste of freedom with Sora. I wonder if his Mum was as mad at him as my Mum was?

I pondered this as I walked into town with _Suede_ blasting through my IPod headphones.

I saw Sora standing outside the music shop, like he said, with Hayner and Pence.

Pence was the drummer in his band and Hayner was the singer and bassist. Sora played guitar and wrote lyrics.

In truth, they weren't that good. I think all of them knew this but they still hoped to get better.

Sora's face lit up when he saw me.

"At last!" he exclaimed.

"What took you so long?" Hayner asked.

"I got held up at home." I kind of didn't want to tell Hayner and Pence about what had happened. I liked them well enough but I wasn't exactly best friends with them. I only really knew them through Sora and hadn't spent a lot of time with them.

So I glanced at Sora to make sure he knew that wasn't the whole truth and I would tell him about it later.

We went to HMV **[1] **and some gaming stores and then finally to a café. Hayner and Pence spotted a couple of friends from their Primary School and went off to talk to them, leaving Sora and I alone.

I immediately took the chance to tell him about what had happened before I left.

I watched his face go from interested and cheery to horrified.

"So she's not letting you go out and then she's going to whisk you off to your villa?"

"Yeah, pretty much," I said, stirring my coffee idly. I didn't actually care for the stuff but it would supply me with sweet, glorious caffeine.

"That's harsh…"

"Was your Mum angry about you coming home late?"

"Only a bit. She was just like: _"Come home earlier next time"_ and then she went on about how the streets aren't safe at night."

He grimaced, shuddering at the memory. We both hated it when we were told about how there are criminals and 'bad people' out on the streets at night. One would think they were referring to vampires, the way they talked about them.

"You know Aerith is going to be really mad at you for sneaking out."

"I left a note."

"But you still went against what she said. And you don't know why she was asking you to stay in. Maybe there's someone out to get you."

"I like to think she would have just told me if that was the case."

I knew I was selfish by going against my Mum but she had to start telling me things. I was dreading going home. Cloud could be very scary when he was angry and so could Aerith.

I tried not to think about all that right now though.

"So how's the band going?" This was a regular conversation between us. I would give my opinion on his name ideas for the band because they could never settle on one.

"It's going good, we're doing a new song called '_Higher, Lower'._"

"Cool, what's that song about?"

"Uh….I haven't actually written any lyrics yet. We've only got a couple of chords so far…"

That was just like the band. The only song they'd ever completed was a cover of another song.

"Are there any new band names up for debate?"

Sora brightened up.

"Well I think we should be called _Furious Mole!_" **[Haha Mortal Instruments reference!]**

"That's not a good name for a band."

"It's original."

"Yeah but I'm pretty sure it's unique because it's a terrible name."

"That's what the other guys said…"

Sora finished his coffee and said he wanted to get something else. He got up and went to the till, leaving me to play with my phone.

I wondered whether I should call Aerith to make sure she got my note but decided against it. Chances were she hadn't even realised I was missing. If that was the case I could sneak back home, throw away the note and pretend I never left!

I looked around the coffee shop to see what Hayner and Pence were doing. I aborted looking for them though when I saw bright crimson in the corner of my eye.

My head snapped to my left and my eyes widened when I saw _him_.

The redhead from last night was sitting no more than four metres away from me, grinning at me like how a shark would grin at a smaller fish before devouring it.

His hair was still spiked back. It looked like flames were on his skull, caught in time.

For the second time that week, I was frozen. I had a horrible feeling in my gut. I knew I should have got out, this guy just radiated danger. In fact I never really should have left home.

But all I could do was stare. My eyes bored into his lime green eyes. I had never eyes so green before. They were pretty…..

He stared right back but broke off when Sora came back with a muffin.

The redhead got up, sparing me one last glance, and sauntered out of the café.

I made a snap decision to follow him.

Standing up quickly, I followed him out through the café, leaving behind a confused Sora.

I think I might have said:

"I'll be back in a sec." but I couldn't be certain. All of my energy was focused on the redhead.

I looked left and right when I got outside and saw him leaning against the building, arms folded, looking right at me.

Before I could even comprehend what he was doing, he grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the entrance and closer to him.

"You're blocking the entrance." Is what he said.

Realising what was happening, I yanked my arm out of his grip and stepped back so we were a respectable distance from each other. I made sure to keep out of the way of the entrance this time though.

For a moment neither of us spoke. I felt kind of stupid; I hadn't really thought this through.

"You know," he said at last. "You've caused quite a fuss."

I looked blankly at him.

"Excuse me?"

"How are you doing it?"

I drew another blank.

"Doing what?"

He sighed. "You can see me."

"….Am I not supposed to see you…?"

"Yes. You're a mortal."

What the hell?

"And you're not?"

Great, all I had done so far was ask him questions. Now I felt really stupid.

He smirked.

"Listen, Blondie. Let me make it simple. You're not supposed to see me but you can. I need you to come somewhere with me so we can fix the problem of how and why you can see me."

_Go somewhere with him? _

_Why I can see him? _

_Blondie!_

He moved towards me but I moved a couple of steps away.

I had seen him kill…'something' last night. This guy wasn't a safe guy to be around if he was a chakram user.

His smirk fell a little and he looked serious.

"You can either come willingly, or I'll have to use force."

Was this guy threatening to kidnap me?

Ohhhhhh bugger.

Was this the reason why Aerith didn't want me to go out?

Wait, how could she know about the redhead? I hadn't told her about him or the incident last night.

I looked wildly around me. Where could I run?

He noticed this and said, "Don't run. Catching you will be easy."

Yeah, he did have long legs….

'_Ag-a-doo-doo-doo, push pineapple, shake the tree  
_

_Aga-doo-doo-doo-'_

"Oh for God's sake, Sora!" I cursed as my phone played the annoying ringtone.

I looked at the screen.

Mum Mobile Calling

Before the redhead could stop me, I answered the call.

"Hello?"

"**Roxas! Where are you? Are you ok? Are you-"**

"I'm fine, I'm at Café Nero with Sora."

"**Come home immediately!"**

"I will, just let me go and-"

"**No! There's no time!"**

I winced and took the phone away from my ear a bit. Never had I heard her shout so loud.

I heard a bang followed by something shattering on the other end of the phone.

"**Oh God…."** She whispered.

"What's going on?"

"**Roxas, listen to me. Do **_**not**_** come home. Stay at Sora's or somewhere. **_**Don't come home**_**!"**

One minute I'm to go home as soon as possible and the next I'm not to set foot there?

What was going on?

"Mum, what's happening? Where's Cloud?"

"**I love you,"** she said and the line went dead.

"Mum?"

The monotonous 'beep' was the only answer.

"Damnit!" I swore and put my phone in my pocket.

I looked up to see the redhead regarding me as if I were some sort of interesting insect he had found.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

I ignored him though.

I had to go home. I had to find out what was happening.

Without another word I darted back into the café, grabbed my rucksack and sprinted out again.

I ran all the way home.

I stopped when my house came into view but I could already see something was wrong.

The front door was wide open.

That definitely wasn't good.

I ran with renewed strength, desperate to find Aerith and see if she was ok.

When at the front door I stopped running and slowly crept inside.

"Aerith..?" I called out softly.

I heard a movement, sounding like it was coming from upstairs.

One foot after the other, I ascended the stairs. I heard another rustle and followed it into Aerith's bedroom.

I didn't find Aerith in there though.

I found something much worse.

Looming above me was a gigantic black creature, similar to what I had seen the red head kill last night, but much bigger. Its eyes were gleaming yellow orbs with no pupils.

It didn't seem to have any facial features. There were two long antennas sticking out from its head though.

Its torso was bulky and black with contrastingly skinny arms and legs.

For the second time in one day and the third in a week, I was glued to the spot. A little voice was telling me I needed to move unless I wanted to be crushed by the monstrous black thing.

That voice wasn't strong enough to make me actually do anything unfortunately. My feet stayed perfectly still as the creature leered down at me.

It seemed to be inspecting me. For a while it stood quite still, as if waiting for something.

For me to move? Possibly.

The black creature curled one of its skeletal hands into a fist and drew it back slightly.

_Uh oh._ The voice said.

"Move!"

I obeyed the command, thinking my brain had finally got into gear.

That thought was indeed wrong though. Someone else had said that.

A red headed man shot forward and stepped in front of me, forming a protective stance.

It was _him_.

He brandished a pair of chakrams and hurled them at the creature.

'_Oh holy mother of God' _was the intelligent thought I had when the spiked discs sliced through the creature, spraying a black substance over everything that was near.

The redhead caught a bit of the spray but didn't seem bothered by it.

Again and again he hit the monster. It groaned and swiped at him, catching his upper body and thus throwing him into a wall.

The creature turned back to me and went in to crush me with its fist.

Instinctively, I held up my hands and closed my eyes, waiting for the blow.

I felt something metallic in my hands before I felt the blow.

Had I been holding something?

Trusting my instincts completely, I swung my hands the way you would if you were holding a blade.

I opened my eyes to see a bit of silver metal slice through the monsters hand.

It roared and withdrew it's now bleeding hand.

I stumbled back, puzzled.

When had I picked up a sword?

Furthermore, this sword was shaped like a key.

The tip of the blade was like a star. Dangling on the hilt of the sword was a chain with a star-shaped sea shell.

I examined the weapon, mesmerized by it.

"Look out!"

I looked up to see the monster taking another swing at me. Not being able to think of anything else to do, I held the blade in front of me, hoping the defensive position would somehow stop the attack.

Needless to say, it didn't really help.

Just like the red head, the blow sent me flying before the world fell to black.

**Third person POV**

Axel watched the blonde boy smack into the wall and hit the ground with a light thud. His weapon disappeared in a flash of white light.

The giant Heartless stalked towards Axel but collapsed halfway due to the two chakrams embedded into it. That and the loss of blood.

Everything that belonged to the Heartless, even the spilt blood, slowly disappeared.

Axel dismissed his chakrams and ran to the boy's side.

He held his bare palm against his nose and mouth, checking for breathing.

He sighed with a breath of relief - breath he didn't know he'd been holding - when he felt the air against the skin of his hand.

Axel took a small vile out of his pocket and poured a little of the substance on his forefinger.

With the same finger, he drew a symbol on the boy's neck and carefully gathered him in his arms.

Axel carried him bridal style all the way back. No one even glanced at them.

That was because they couldn't see them.

**[1] HMV is a music, DVD and game store, if you didn't know.**

**Okay I know some of that chapter was a bit weird and not well written. If you have any questions about the story don't hesitate to ask. I rushed it a bit because I wanted to get it out before Monday for you guys **

**Speaking of Monday, I'm going away for a week and basically will not have the time to write….or even a computer to write on, for that matter.**

**After that I get a break from school….except it's not really a break because it's going to be filled with homework.**

**I will still try to get the next chapter to both my fics out ASAP though, so don't worry. It may take a little longer though…**

**Thank you for reading, I hoped you enjoyed it.**

**P.S. Happy Valentines Day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Right-o! The next chapter is here! Sorry for the long wait – I was focusing on my other fic for a while… …. And I have had LOADS of exams….and I've become obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist - yay! **

**Special thanks to Just-in-4-da-fan for giving me the support to actually release this chapter and to girly-girl12345, UnderMySkittlex1819, LadyKittania and kingdomhearts8899 for reviewing and to all those who favourite, alerted and read this fic.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or The Mortal Instruments series. I only own any plot changes….which there aren't many of…..darn.**

**Roxas POV**

I woke up in the most awful way: feeling groggy, in need of a shower and in a room I did not recognise. My limbs were stiff and sore and there was a dull ache in the back of my head. I rubbed the sore spot absently as I looked around the strange room.

The walls were plain white, with bits of blue grey piping across the walls. The bed I had been sleeping on was white with white sheets, the floor was white, white, white and white. The only colour in the room was I and the books on a far white shelf.

If I had been more awake, I would have been panicking and already heading for the exit but I felt so horrible I just flopped back down on the bed.

What had happened yesterday? Was it a dream? Probably not, dreams didn't hurt as much as this….unless I had been sleepwalking while dreaming…

I wasn't the type to sleepwalk though. It had to be real. None of it made any sense though. That black monster just wasn't supposed to exist. And that guy….he couldn't exist either…could he?

Everything I had seen had been so real…._seen….not seen-_

Where was Aerith? Where was Cloud? What had happened to our home?

Any exhaustion I had felt before evaporated as the panic took over. That phone call…..something was wrong. I had to find out what was happening.

I tried to sit up but my head spun when I made the movement. I moaned and clutched my head, falling back onto the bed. I closed my eyes and waited for the dizziness to pass while counting down from ten.

_Ten, nine, eight…._

I was vaguely aware of some movement outside of the door but with the mushy state my brain was in I couldn't think anything more of it.

_Seven, six…_

I heard the door open and more movements. Still I ignored them.

_Five, four..._

That person was now approaching the bed. I clutched my still aching head, fearing that even the slightest shift would cause me to throw up.

_Three, two, one-_

"Uh, are you okay, Blondie?"

That voice….I looked up at the person and immediately regretted doing so. The pain in my head intensified immediately. I saw splotches of read in my vision. Nothing was clear or focused.

I curled into a ball and held my head, shutting my eyes tight.

_I'm gonna be sick, I'm gonna be sick, I'm gonna be sick…_

I felt a pair of hands trying to push me back on the bed. I stiffened and tried to resist; I didn't want to move again. The force of the pushing increased, putting my resistance to an end and new wave of pain through my skull.

I kept holding my head, hoping that somehow the holding motion would help the pain go away. The same pair of hands grabbed my wrists and lifted my hands away from my face. The hands were soft and warm and made me feel strangely calm…

Something cold and damp was laid on my forehead. Eventually the pain numbed a little but my head still hurt.

The person had not left the room. Suddenly very wary, I opened my eyes a little and squinted at the person. A tall red-head stood there, looking down at me worriedly. He had odd, upside-down tear drop tattoos under his eyes. I let my gaze wander down his body, noting the many unusual patterns he had tattooed on his arms.

None of them had a particular shape; they were all spiralling and somewhat gothic looking. I looked back at his piercing green eyes. He looked worried, concerned but also calm. I felt drawn to this man, like I wanted to talk to him. In my current state though, all I could do was close my eyes and fall asleep.

**Axel POV**

I stood and watched as the blonde kid closed his eyes and slept lightly. His face was so peaceful, making him look almost angelic. He was certainly a mystery though.

When I had brought him back to the Castle, Xigbar had looked him over for any marks that gave him the sight or any evidence that he was a Nobody. Everything about him was downright Mundane though. It didn't make any sense for him to see us if he wasn't one of us. This confused me and had shaken me a little. Chances are he was a new species of Heartless that looked exactly like Mundanes but were really monsters.

But with his adorable face, that didn't seem possible.

Ugh, what am I thinking? He was just supposed to be some annoying kid that could somehow see us. I wanted to know more than how though. I wanted to know about _him_.

I watched him sleep for a little longer before pulling up a chair and resting my eyes myself.

…

_Where am I?_

...

_HEY!_

Holy sweet Lord of merciful crap! I jumped at the intrusive voice and looked wildly around the room. I was sitting on a chair in the infirmary and the blonde kid was staring at me.

Oh, I had fallen asleep…

"Where am I?"

I turned my attention to Blondie who was shooting daggers at me. Or at least he was trying to. His big blue eyes were just not capable of giving such horrible looks. The very worst he could do with them was glare.

I got up and stretched, delighting in the popping sounds my back and arms made. I refocused on Blondie and tried to keep my demeanour indifferent. The truth was, this guy was fascinating me. How could he possibly see us and how the hell had he summoned a frigging Keyblade?

"You're in the Castle, which is basically a refuge for Nobodies."

He looked a little taken aback, probably from the word 'Castle'. From what I knew, Mundanes did not use castles anymore; they were historic relics to them.

"Who are you?" he asked slowly.

I grinned and tapped the side of my forehead.

"The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

**Man, I hated leaving it there. Actually, I hate the whole chapter. I just really wanted to get this out because I feel so guilty about not writing for so long. Sorry if this short, uneventful chapter was a bit of a disappointment but I shall hopefully redeem myself by writing a supercool chapter 4! Till then, adios!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ugh, the exams finish, then they give us more exams! Damn school…. Anyways, I hope this chapter makes up a little for that God-awful chapter 3 – I'm very sorry about that.**

**A big thank you to LadyKittania and girly-girl12345 for reviewing and making me smile in a stressful time **** and thank you to everyone who favourited, alerted and read this. And, as always, thank you to Just-in-4-da-fan for the support and being generally amazing (the songs are for you lol).**

**By the way there is an IMPORTANT NOTE at the bottom that requires your help. Please read it and answer.…pretty please?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Mortal Instruments or any Final Fantasy characters. If I owned all of them I would be richer than Bill Gates.**

Roxas POV

Who the hell does this guy think he is?

Well, 'Axel' apparently but within less than thirty seconds of conversation he has proved himself to be the most arrogant arsehole I have had the unfortunate 'pleasure' of meeting!

"_Got it memorized?"_ Did he think I had amnesia or short-term memory loss? I had the strong urge to punch him but before I could act on it, the memories of his chakrams and his skill with them rushed back to me.

Ah, maybe not, then. I settled for a full-forced glare instead, which to my further irritation he did not seem to be scared by.

He looked down at me expectantly.

"Ya know," he drawled, "When someone introduces themselves, the other person typically introduces themselves out of politeness and generally making things easier for the other guy so he doesn't have to say 'Hey, you!' when he wants your attention."

"I don't think I should give my name out to strangers." Yeah, that sounded stupid but at that moment it was the best I could come up with.

"I'm not a stranger; you know my name _and_ I saved your goddamn life."

"That was your choice."

"It's what any decent person would do. Forgive me for not realizing you wanted to die, especially after you gave the message so clearly when you defended yourself against the Heartless when it was trying to kill you."

That's right….I managed to pull a giant sword-like key out of nowhere…how the hell did I do that? And what was that thing – the 'Heartless'?

"Hey, you. What's your name?" Axel asked impatiently. I had gotten lost in my thoughts, forgetting about the bantering.

I decided to give in; maybe if I gave him an answer he would shut up.

"Roxas."

"S'cuse me?"

"_My name is Roxas_," I snapped.

He grinned, satisfied at getting what he wanted.

"Little Roxie, eh?"

At that moment, I was able to conclude the reasons why I would not be getting along with Axel:

-He was a jerk

-He implied I had bad memory (I memorized a whole page of French for my French oral damn it!)

- He was one of those people who didn't stop until he got what he wanted

- He called me 'Little'

-And he called me 'Roxie', the bastard.

I immediately ran through my mind for insults I could throw at him.

"So, Asshole, was it? Care to tell me what the hell happened at my house?" I asked, accomplishing the insult and asking the question I wanted answered.

He smirked that damned smirk of his.

"Oh dear, I knew there was something wrong with your brain. My name is Axel. Do you want me to write it down for you?"

F***, that backfired.

"Answer the question," I said. I really did want to know what was going on.

"I did. You asked if my name was 'Asshole' and I told you it wasn't."

"The_ other_ question," I ground out.

"Which was…?"

"_What the hell happened yesterday_?" I nearly yelled but my throat hurt a bit too much for any extreme amount of noise. This guy deserved to be yelled at though; he was so irritating. Oh dear Lord, I sound like a girl again.

A look of confusion spread on his face.

"Yesterday," He said slowly, "You were still unconscious."

"What do you mean?" I honestly had no idea what this guy was talking about. Would I never be answered?

"I mean, you were knocked out still. That Heartless really knocked you out good – you've been unconscious for around three days. But anyway, what happened yesterday, you were here, asleep and I was arguing with Dem and-"

"Three days?" That would explain why I felt so awful: I had been lying down for three days straight because that 'Heartless' had knocked me out.

Aerith was probably worried sick!

"I have to go," I said and tried to get out of the bed but a wave of dizziness stopped me from getting further than swinging my legs over the side.

"No, you don't. There's unfinished business with you."

Okay, that sort of sentence is something you only expect to hear in movies.

"Well, it will have to remain unfinished. I_ need_ to go."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Why?"

"It's none of your business."

"I'll make it my business."

"Go away."

"….Why?"

Ugh! This was infuriating! I tried again to get out of the bed.

In my mind, I had the image of me coolly getting out of bed and storming off. What actually happened was my legs giving out under me as soon as of put my full weight on them.

Then, in my mind, I had the image of me face-planting on the floor much to Axel's amusement.

That didn't happen either.

I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me to stop my fall and then felt myself being drawn against that person's chest. It felt…nice…to be held. That was until I remembered who the arms belonged to.

Holy hell, I was being hugged by Axel! We stood awkwardly in that position for what seemed like eternity; well at least it did for me.

Axel pushed me back until my legs hit the bed. I promptly sat down and Axel drew his arms away.

"Clearly," Axel said evenly, "You are not fit to go anywhere."

"…Shut up." I wasn't really paying attention; I was just hoping I wasn't blushing.

We both stayed silent for a minute until I asked:

"Axel…what exactly are you?" There was something different about him; the way he fought that 'Heartless' thing and the tattoos under his eyes were something in themselves.

He didn't say anything for a moment. Then he spoke.

"I guess you deserve to know…" His jade eyes locked onto mine. I felt like they were drawing me in with their intensity. "Ok, basically, I'm-"

'_Oh, I'm a Gummy Bear_

_Yes, I'm a Gummy Bear! _

_Oh, I'm a Yummy, Chummy, Funny, Lucky Gummy Bear._

_I'm a Jelly bear, Cuz I'm a Gummy bear, _

_Oh I'm a movin', groovin', Jammin', Singin' Gummy Bear!'_

I gawked at the noise coming from Axel's jean pocket. Oh dear Lord, please say he hasn't.

"Do you have my phone?"

He let out a bark of laughter.

"You have some weird music on your phone."

"It's not mine, not really, I mean, Sora-" I was babbling like a fool so I shut my mouth, willing the right words to somehow find their way to Axel's ears.

He pulled out the phone – my phone – and raised his eyebrows.

"Speak of the Devil, Sora's calling you. Is he your boyfriend?"

I spluttered at the question. We were just friends, for crying out loud!

"Ignore," he murmured as he presumably pressed the button which ignored the call. Great, Sora was going to give me hell over that.

He tossed the phone back to me and I caught it. I slipped it into my jeans pocket. The normality of the motion calmed me a little.

"Oh, by the way, you've been in those clothes for about four days now. You might want to take a shower and change," Axel said and pointed to a door that probably led to an ensuite. Huh, I hadn't noticed it before. "I left some of Demyx's spare clothes for you to change into. Hopefully they'll fit but they might be a little big…"

I knew that was another jibe at my height but I just managed to ignore him. I was about to get up when Axel moved forward and lifted me into his arms.

I squeaked and clung onto him, afraid of falling. He carried me over to the adjoining bathroom with me blushing the entire way.

"I could have got here myself," I muttered pathetically as he shouldered the door open and set me down.

He smirked and said, "Sure you could." It was in the sort of way that said he clearly didn't believe me.

He left and shut the door, leaving me to shower and change.

**~C****i**_t__y __**o**__**f **_**S**_m__**o**__k__**e**_

(Still Roxas POV)

I wiped some of the steam off the floor length mirror and looked at myself in the clothes Axel had left for me. They felt and looked too big but to be honest I was glad to be in something clean. My other clothes were currently sitting folded on the white tiled floor.

Now, where the hell was my rucksack? I dreaded to think what might be happening if Axel had taken it. He would probably go through it. It wasn't like I had anything embarrassing in there but I didn't like the thought of someone – especially someone like _Axel _– going through my stuff.

The shower had made me feel much better; I could now walk without getting dizzy or collapsing, which was a great improvement.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror one last time, taking in the way the sleeves of the baggy blue t-shirt went past my elbows and the darn jeans that had to be rolled up several times so I could walk without tripping.

Yup, it looked awful but for now I would have to make do.

I picked up my clothes and went back into the bedroom. Axel wasn't there which left the room in an eerie sort of silence. I felt suddenly very alone and actually missed Axel's somewhat annoying presence.

Damn, that was hard to admit.

I walked steadily back to the bed and put the clothes on it. I perched on the edge of the bed and briefly wondered what to do. Should I wait here, go find Axel or get out of here?

So far, none of these people had been a direct threat to me but there was definitely something strange going on. There was still a faint hope in me that I was dreaming but the more time went on, the more the feeling faded.

I decided to go explore a little and leave my next course of action to chance; if I ran into Axel first, I would have to go with him and if I found an exit first, I would get out of this place. Simple as.

Before I left, I quickly searched the room for my rucksack. Its checked pattern wouldn't have been hard to miss against the pure whiteness of the room. To my dismay, it was nowhere in sight.

Sighing, I made my way down the hall, not really knowing what to expect.

Unsurprisingly, the hallways were white as well. Ugh, I felt like I was in a mental institute; everything was white, there were weird people (i.e. Axel) and I felt like I was going mad. All that was missing was the straight jacket.

I walked on, searching for either a red haired idiot or an exit. I think part of me actually wanted to find Axel but I tried to push it down – waaaay down.

The place was completely silent, excluding my slightly echoing footsteps. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when I heard a voice, getting closer.

"_I've got a brand new combine harvester and I'll give you the key!_

_Come on now let's get together in perfect harmony!"_

I could now hear footsteps as well and judging from the sound I could tell they were running.

"_Oh I got 20 acres and you got 43!"_

What the hell was that person singing? It was getting louder; they were probably just around the corner.

"_Now I've got a brand new combine harvester and I'll give you the key!_

_I've got a brand new-"_

Something collided with me which sent me crashing to the hard, unforgiving ground. I yelped as the thing that hit me fell on top of me.

My brain caught up with the sudden events that had just happened and was able to conclude it was a person – a person with a mullet.

His sea-green eyes locked onto mine and I saw recognition wash into them.

Wait, this guy….he was at the nightclub with Axel! We both stayed still for a moment before both hastily trying to get up. Well, my struggle was limited because he jammed his elbow into my stomach in his rush to get off me.

I wheezed a little and scooted way from him before getting up. He was regarding me with an odd expression, as if trying to place something.

"Wait a sec….Roxas?"

"Huh?"

"You're Roxas, right? The kid at the nightclub?"

Normally I would have protested against anyone calling me 'kid' but I simply nodded.

I awkwardly stood there, wondering what to say or do. This guy had been with Axel at the nightclub. I remembered him holding a big blue guitar or something like that.

"Oh right, how rude of me, I'm Demyx by the way," he said. I acknowledged it with a nod and had another phase of awkwardness – what should I say? He already knows my name….

"Oh yeah, you're s'posed to go meet Xigbar, I think, well Axel is in charge of you and he told me…."

He babbled on and my attention slowly wavered. I started thinking about home, my mum and Sora. I wondered if they were missing me, if they were worried….

"Roxas?" The sound of my name brought me out of my gloomy thoughts and back to whatever the hell Demyx had been saying. Crap, what had he said?

"Um, yeah?"

"Quit spacing out, I said I'm gonna take you to Xigbar now." With that, he stalked off and I guessed I was supposed to follow. I had to walk fast to keep up with his large paces – why was everyone here so darn tall?

"Who's Xigbar?" I asked as we walked down more white halls.

He looked back at me oddly.

"Our tutor. Dude, seriously, I just told you all that. Were you not listening to anything I said?"

I looked down and mumbled a quick,

"Sorry." I wasn't sure if he heard it but I figured I should shut up before I made my first impression on him any worse. I silently followed him through the halls, quickly giving up on remembering the way. My mental mapping skills were seriously lacking.

We reached a set of huge double doors which Demyx stopped at. I waited behind him as he knocked on the door.

I heard a muffled, "Enter." Demyx opened the door into another (you guessed it) white room. There were several sofas arranged so they formed a sort of circle. In one of them sat a man with long black hair tied back in a ponytail. What really stood out about him was the eye-patch that covered his right eye and the ragged scat across his cheek.

He wore a black coat, the same sort that I had seen Axel and Demyx and the other girl wearing at the nightclub.

Across from him, sprawled in one of the other sofas was Axel. Both of them looked towards us as we went in. I tried not to stare at the man with the eye patch so I ended up turning to look at Axel. He grinned at me and I decided maybe I shouldn't look at him – I was meant to hate him darn it!

I surveyed the room which was slightly more interesting than the other rooms, mainly because there was more furniture. However the room was still monk-like; everything was perfectly in order and strikingly clean.

"This is him?" The scarred man asked, looking me up and down. I felt very self-conscious at that moment and looked at my feet, hoping no one would see the blush that had crept across my face.

"Yup, his name is Roxas," Axel replied coolly. I felt a pang of annoyance at having someone else introduce me – it made me look incompetent! –and sent a glare at Axel but he wasn't looking at me. Great, it had gone to waste again.

"Strange…" the man, who I presumed was Xigbar, murmured as he got up and walked towards me. I unconsciously moved back a little as he came closer. When he reached out I tensed all over, fearing what he would do.

It turned out he wanted to inspect my right hand. He turned it so the palm was facing down in his grasp. He lightly ran his thumb over the back of my hand, while making 'hmm' noises.

"Are you right-handed?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah?" I honestly had no idea why that mattered. He released my right hand and grabbed my left and did the same thing.

"Strange…" he repeated. Okay, I was starting to feel like some weird test subject now with him touching me and muttering things.

"See?" Axel called from his spot on the sofa. I noticed that while I was being poked and prodded Demyx had gone to sit next to him. "He has no marks yet he can see us."

"Yes…" Xigbar said as if deep in thought. He walked back over to the armchair and sat down. I briefly wondered if I should just stand still or go to sit down. "Please, sit." Xigbar gestured to an unoccupied sofa to which I sat down in. I sat on the edge so I could get up quickly – I still didn't fully trust these people.

I realized everyone was staring at me, even Demyx, who seemed not to like me. I looked at my knees, pretending to ignore them and I actually just didn't know where to look while I was being observed by three people.

"Roxas, do you know what a Nobody is?" Xigbar asked.

"Um, what do you mean? You mean like a person who has no status?" I was seriously confused. 'A nobody'? Who asked something like that, and for what purpose?

He didn't answer my question; he just kept staring at me, as did the other two.

The scarred man inhaled deeply and looked as if he was caught in a moment of indecisiveness. Axel and Demyx were now looking at Xigbar.

"Ya know, I think we should tell him," Axel said. I felt myself liking Axel for about a nano-second before remembering what a jerk he was before.

Demyx piped up, "No way, if he doesn't already know, he shouldn't know."

"I think he already knows too much, it wouldn't make much difference if we just fill in the gaps."

"Axel is right, the kiddo has the Sight so there must be some trace of Nobody or Downworlder within him."

He looked towards me and I stared back, trying not to look at his scar or eye-patch. I shifted slightly, anxious for him to finally explain what was going on. He started:

"A Nobody in our world is not the same as what it means to be in your world; a Nobody to you is, as you said, someone at the bottom of society. However in our world, a Nobody is pretty near the top."

He stopped for a second, collecting his thoughts. "We have the name 'Nobody' because we are invisible in our work, well at least to Mundies-"

"What's a 'Mund-dee'?" I interrupted.

"Basically a boring, regular mortal person – it comes from the word 'Mundane,'" Axel chipped in, his answer being surprisingly straightforward for once.

"Anyway, we are 'Nobodies' because we are invisible in our work and we don't have hearts."

"What?" I was horrified at how serious he was being. How was he even alive if he didn't have a heart?

"It's a little complicated," At this Axel snorted; I guessed this was the sort of thing he would have learnt when he was three so it was practically baby talk for him. "We have hearts for biological use but we can tap into and out of the emotions from our hearts." Xigbar observed my blank and most likely still horrified face. "Think of it like this: when in the heat of battle we can become the perfect warrior and stop feeling. That way we can totally focus on fighting and forget about everything else."

I mulled over that for a minute, waiting for it to sink in. Part of it made sense but…..how?

"How do you…stop feeling?" I asked.

"It just takes deep concentration, a bit like meditation actually."

Even though they were talking about it as if it was as normal as getting up in the morning, I remained sceptical about whether they could do that. It was unreal; I couldn't imagine not being able to feel fear or hate or happiness.

I still didn't really understand some of it either, like how they could go in and out of emotions but I remained quiet. That was partly because of my pride and also because I knew it was subject matter everyone else in the room was very familiar with. It was like when I refrained from asking a question in class because I knew everyone else would think I was stupid for not knowing something so simple – well at least simple to them.

"Would you like a demonstration?" Axel suddenly asked. I looked at his grinning face and feared he was actually serious.

"N-no," I stuttered. I did not want to see someone lose all emotion just to be able to fight better and at this moment he wasn't even fighting!

"It's no trouble, really, I'll-"

"Don't, Axel," Xigbar said sternly.

"Aww…" Axel moped. Why the hell was he so desperate to show me? Oh right, he was probably a show-off.

"I have an idea," Demyx said, startling me (he hadn't talked for a while). "Why don't we see if Roxas can tap out of his emotions? If he can, then he's a Nobody."

"What? No way am I doing that!" I blurted. I would not be doing something so freaky like that!

"Wait…he's done that before…" Axel said, getting this deep look on his face. "When he summoned a Keyblade – you can only do that when you tap fully out of your emotions."

If I was punctuation at that point, I would have been a question mark and an exclamation mark (?). What were they talking about? I had never 'tapped out' of my emotions. I remember when I summoned the shiny sword thing – a 'Keybalde' apparently – I remember feeling confused and scared. Scared! Fear! An emotion!

"How on Earth could he do that….and not realize what he was doing?" Demyx asked, giving me a slightly dirty look. I swear he was all chummy when we first met but now he's like a bully! Weird guy….

"Could you…..do it again, Roxas?" Xigbar asked, with this weird look of complete anticipation – the type of look when someone knows they are about to see something good. Okay, I'm really scared now.

"I don't know…"

"Please try." It sounded like an order, with the way he said it and I chose to humour them and try to summon the key thingamajig again.

I sighed slightly and closed my eyes and held out my right hand. I tried to remember what it looked like. Part of it had looked like a star…and it was mostly white-silver….what else was there?

I tried to remember how it felt as well, the chill of the metal in my palm and its semi-heavy weight. Against my closed eyes I saw a flash of bright light and felt the same cold metal in my hand.

I opened my eyes and couldn't help but smile a little at having done it. For some reason a feeling of pride well up in my chest, making me smile even more.

I suddenly remembered where I was and looked at everyone's face. They all held the same look of awe and…disbelief?

That was when I realized they weren't looking at the Keyblade, they were watching my face. I blushed a bit, embarrassed by their staring.

"You…can feel?" Xigbar asked slowly.

"Yeah…" I was sure of that; it was only moments ago I had felt pride and happiness and embarrassment – I would say that's 'feeling'.

"He-he smiled!" Demyx said shakily. Beside him Axel grunted in confirmation.

I looked over at Axel and saw he had recovered from his initial shock and was now looking at me as if I was missing out on some big joke.

He spoke when I turned my attention to him,

"I doubt you know that you are the first person who has summoned a Keyblade and can still feel emotion."

No, I did not know that.

**And there you have it! I hope this chapter was a lot better than the last one and I have redeemed myself. **

**IMPORTANT NOTE: Okay, basically I would like to know how far people want this fic to stick to the original plot of Mortal Instruments or if people would like more of the Kingdom Hearts universe in there. Just tell me in a review or PM me if you have anything to say on this matter or any other matter for that…matter. (Inner voice: You absolute twit, no one words things that badly!)**

**IMPORTANT NOTE 2: Would people prefer if I replaced Larxene (who is filling in for Isabelle) with Riku so I can put in SoraxRiku? Or would people rather I keep Larxene? Or would people prefer another character entirely? Once again, tell me in a review or PM me to let me know. **

**I don't think I really got Demyx right as he is filling Alec's shoes and their characters are quite different. This really annoys me as Alec is one of my favourite characters so I hope I didn't totally butcher Alec for any other Alec lovers – sorry! Tell me if you have any suggestions **

**I haven't decided whether I will update this fic first or go back to This World but either way, I shall remain focused. Oh and I might be starting a joint Mortal Instruments fic with my friend so look out for that! **

**Wow, this is a long author's note.**

**Thanks,**

**Cipher.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow, I wrote most of this during my lessons. If it's rubbish, it's because I had to keep looking over my shoulder to check the teacher wasn't near me XD**

**Okay, I think we should all thank girly-girl12345, KHGiggle, LadyKittania and Just-in-4-da-fan for helping me out with this and just being generally amazing. I would like to say an extra special thank you to girly-girl12345 because without you, this fic would not have been continued and left to rot somewhere on fanfiction. **

**And just so everyone knows, I'm keeping Larxene in and will try and find an opening for Riku somewhere else. And I will try to clear up the nature of Demyx's attitude next chapter as well.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, The Mortal Instruments or Final Fantasy. You know, I don't know why we even write these; I think we all know the owners of these are out there making the real thing, not spending time on fanfic. Oh well…**

They were all still staring at me. What's more, it didn't look like they would stop anytime soon. Xigbar looked at me as if I had sprouted another head and two new limbs, Demyx had gone slightly pale and Axel looked as if he were trying to work out a difficult maths problem.

And it was all because of this 'Keyblade' I had conjured up. I closed my eyes and willed the thing to go away. It did so in a flash of bright light. I opened my eyes again to see them all _still_ staring at me. Ugh, this was getting old.

Was it really that big a deal? Sure I could still feel emotions but doesn't that contradict the whole 'Perfect Warrior' thing?

Xigbar let out a low whistle.

"Wow, you sure are something, kiddo."

I sent him a glare for calling me 'kiddo' but he brushed it off. Why was everyone ignoring my glares?

"It's not that big a deal is it?" I asked him. I could feel Demyx still looking at me so I kept my focus on Xigbar. He snorted.

"Not a big deal? As if. You really don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you even know what a Keyblade is?" Axel cut in.

"Um, the thing I was just holding?" No one looked impressed by this answer; I clearly didn't know exactly_ what_ it was. I lowered my head and muttered, "Not really."

"A Keyblade," Xigbar explained, "Is the most powerful weapon to have ever existed. Very few people have wielded one. Wanna know why there are so few?" I nodded my head even though it was probably a rhetorical question. "Because you have to lose all emotion forever; you become a mindless zombie for the rest of your life."

He continued, "Furthermore, you become a sort of slave. You can't stop yourself from carrying out an order."

"It's really quite ironic. As soon as someone can wield a Keyblade they practically lose a lot of the ability to use it to its full power. See, Keyblades operate best on the emotion of their wielders. They can be used without emotion but the weapon becomes considerably weaker."

I stopped them before they could go on.

"Hold on, you said earlier you lose all emotion and become like a perfect soldier. You're kind of contradicting yourselves."

"No, no, no. There is still intelligence within us when we lose emotion. That's why we can revert back and regain our emotions. When a person summons a Keyblade they lose both emotion and intelligence. The only thing they have in battle is instinct."

"The weird thing is that when a person tries to summon a Keyblade for the first time, they concentrate on only losing their emotions. Their intelligence just seems to be lost in the process..." Axel said thoughtfully.

"In all honesty, no one really knows all that much about the Keyblade. We can't ask wielders anything about it because they don't have the ability to respond coherently."

Damn this was really confusing. Anything I ever said about chemistry being confusing, I took it back.

"So I'm different because I still have my emotions and…intelligence?"

"Different? As if. I'd say you're _special_, kiddo. You didn't even have to tap out of your emotions to summon it, let alone lose them forever."

"I really don't see how I'm so special though." I kind of felt like I was a little kid being over-praised for something that in all actuality was not that impressive.

Demyx had this look that said 'Oh-my-God-it's-like-banging-your-head-against-a-brick-wall-with-this-kid'. So far, he seemed not to like me all that much. I made a quick mental note to try and stay out of his way. Xigbar looked a little frustrated at his failed attempts to get me to understand. Axel leaned forward and said:

"Okay, let me try and make this as simple as I can: You are able to summon the most powerful weapon to ever exist in this world. You are able to use this weapon to its full power because you still have your emotions and intelligence. No one has ever been able to do this. You-"

"Actually," Demyx cut in, much to my annoyance as I was finally starting to understand. "There's rumour Xemnas was able to do it."

"That's a _rumour,_ Demyx. I bet it's not real. Anyway, Roxas, you're special because you can wield the Keyblade and not be a mindless zombie. You have complete control over yourself _and_ the Keyblade. You could actually use the Keyblade for what it's supposed to be used for."

"Which is….?" I prodded.

"Defeating Heartless!" Xigbar cried as if it were blatantly obvious.

"But…you can do that already, can't you?" I asked, thinking back the events at my house. Axel had defeated that massive Heartless….

"True," Xigbar replied. "But the captive hearts the Heartless release when defeated just find their way into other Heartless when our weapons defeat them."

"It's like the vicious circle. You defeat one, another just pops up somewhere else." Axel added.

"So what happens to these hearts when I use the Keyblade?"

"Who knows?" Xigbar said. "The only thing that matters is that the Heartless they came from is gone for good."

There was a pause. I honestly didn't know what to ask; there was too much information all being shoved down my throat at once. I couldn't really digest it properly.

"You know, we still haven't answered the question of exactly Keyblade-boy _is_," Demyx reminded the group, looking pointedly at me. I scowled at him, disliking his new nickname for me. I also got the feeling that maybe Demyx didn't care about answering that question; he just wanted me in a bad light. Then again, maybe I'm just paranoid.

"Does it really matter?" Axel questioned.

"Well, I'm just curious is all."

"Demyx does have a point, Axel. As far as I can tell he's a Mundie."

"And how exactly does a Mundie pull a Keyblade out of thin air and do what Nobody's have been trying to do for years?"

I didn't appreciate them talking about me like I wasn't even there but I held my tongue. I wanted to know what I was – if I was human.

"Maybe he's like a new species of Nobody or maybe he's an alien who's come to show us the ways of the Keyblade!" This super-happy-bubbly Demyx all of a sudden was a bit unnerving but the others looked as if they were used to it.

"Dem, I don't think that's it. I think our best answer at this point is that he's part human and most likely has some sort of forgotten Nobody heritage."

Axel was about to say something but before he could shape the words there was a loud knock at the door. I jumped a little; I had been so absorbed in the conversation.

"Xigbar, I made lunch! Tell Axel and Demyx to get into the kitchen as well!" a female voice said. I had a mini-flashback of the blonde girl with the knives that had also been at the nightclub.

"R-right," Xigbar shouted back.

I could hear the sound of her walking away. Once she was far enough away all three of them groaned in unison.

"I hate it when she cooks," Demyx complained.

"We all do, Dem," Axel assured him.

"Is it too late to make an escape plan to Moogle Café?" Xigbar asked, sounding quite serious.

"Dude, she already knows that you're here. However she doesn't know that Axel and I are here…."Demyx said thoughtfully.

"Right, it's settled! Me and Dem will high-tail it on down to Moogle Café while you, Xigbar, shall suffer the horrors of Larxene's cooking!" Axel proclaimed and proceeded to walk out of the room with Demyx in tow.

He paused before he exited the room and looked back at me. "You coming or what?"

"Me?" I asked, pointing to myself.

"Yes, you. I'm not so cruel as to leave you here to be tortured by what can loosely be called 'food'. Now hurry up."

I quickly got up and walked over them.

"Axel," Xigbar called, stopping him mid-step out the door. "Take care of Roxas. Remember he doesn't have combat training so the minute you run into trouble, come straight back here. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. He's in good hands. Let's go."

The three of us left with Axel and Demyx leading the way and me trailing behind them.

**~C****i**_t__y __**o**__**f **_**S**_m__**o**__k__**e**_

Moogle Café turned out to be a large place that served food for all types things that I thought was the stuff of legends a few days ago. Axel pointed out the Vampyres who sat feasting on animal blood, the Lycans that all sat together at a large table towards the back, the pixies with brightly dyed hair and colourful eyes and the warlocks which all had an animal feature of some sort. **[1]**

We made our way to a table off to the side of the café. Axel and Demyx sat next to each other on one side of the table while I sat opposite them. I was glad to sit down; getting out of the castle had taken longer than I thought. Apparently to be able to sneak out without the risk of Larxene seeing us meant we had to take the long way round to the exit. That place was huge and the walk to the café hadn't been the shortest walk either.

I was glad to find we were still in Hollow Bastion as I recognized some of the places. I wondered how I had missed all these strange places before though, like the huge castle I had been staying in for the past few days. I asked Axel about it after the pixie waitress gave us our menus.

"It's simple. Nobody's put up a glamour over any of our things so Mundie's just see it as a run-down shop or something. Same goes for us, if we put up a glamour over ourselves Mundie's just see a normal looking person. Without glamours we do tend to stick out a bit," Axel explained, pointing to his spiked crimson hair.

I had wondered about that as we were walking to the café; I thought it was odd how Xigbar had said they were invisible in their work when they weren't the most normal looking bunch. The glamour thing actually made a lot of sense in the jumble of information that had previously been overloaded on me.

"By the way, our type of food is on the back of the menu," Demyx told me. I turned over my menu to see the food listed was all normal enough: fish and chips, pasta, pizza….

The waitress came back to take our orders. The whole of her eyes were blue, even the parts that were supposed to be white – a pixie trait, apparently. Her hair was short and as black as a raven's feathers. I supposed her eyes would have freaked me out a couple of days ago but I found I was getting used to the weirdness. I still didn't fully understand what was going on so I decided to just go with the flow.

The pixie-waitress seemed to be paying extra attention to Axel as he made his order of water and a prawn sandwich.

"And for you?" the waitress asked me, seeming somewhat reluctant to turn her gaze away from Axel.

"Um, water and a chicken sandwich please." I said and handed her my menu. She took Demyx's order, took another look at Axel and walked away – although it actually looked more like she was gliding with her graceful movements.

"Can I have your phone for a sec?" Axel asked me. I cautiously fished it out of my pocket and handed the device to him, wondering what he was up to. He fiddled around with it for a moment before handing it back to me with a grin.

"I added my number to your contact list, just in case we somehow get separated or whatever."

"Oh, okay." I thought he just wanted to play around with my ringtones again.

"So, how do you like our world?" Demyx asked conversationally, although I'm not sure whether that sentence can be a something typically found in a conversation.

I really didn't know what to say to that; I was still having trouble actually thinking through any of the information – it would most likely all settle on me late in the evening before I went to bed (I usually took that time to sort out my thoughts).

So all I could come up with was, "It's interesting."

"Damn right!" Axel said gleefully. "A hell of a lot more interesting than your Mundie world, right?"

I nodded although I didn't really agree. I was kind of missing my life….

The waitress came back with our orders and placed them before us. She took extra care to make sure Axel had everything he wanted before drifting away to another table.

I ate my sandwich in silence while Axel and Demyx talked. I couldn't have joined in the conversation if I wanted to; they were talking about things and people I didn't know about.

The sandwich was nice and I had devoured it in mere minutes. I sipped my water while I waited for the other two to finish. My thoughts drifted to other things, like what our house now looked like since the Heartless had been there and whether anyone had realized I had gone. I wondered-

_What can make you move,_

_Chihuahua!_

_Can you feel the groove,_

_Chihuahua!_

_What can make you dance_

_Oh Chihuahua!_

I grabbed my phone and answered the call, not even looking to see who it was so I could stop the irritating tune. Great, Axel had messed with my ringtones after all.

"Hello?" I spoke into the phone. I glanced up quickly to see Axel and Demyx snickering.

"**Oh my God! Roxas, are you okay? Where are you?"**

"Who is this?" I asked, not recognising the voice.

"**It's Sora, you fool! Are you alright? Why haven't you been answering my calls?"**

"I'm fine," I told the frantic Sora. I felt kind of stupid for not recognising his voice first off.

"**Where are you?"**

"Uh…in a café," I said truthfully. I didn't know exactly how much I should be telling Sora.

"**I've been looking everywhere for you! What happened? I went to your house and it's completely trashed. Where's Aerith and Cloud? Why-"**

I stopped listening there. I was horrified at myself. How had I managed to completely forget about my parents? I was a terrible son….and I had practically forgotten about Sora too…..I was just plain terrible.

I made a snap (and probably slightly irrational) decision.

"Sora, where are you?" I interrupted.

"**At home, but I-"**

"I'm coming over now." I ended the call and bolted out of the café, not listening to the shouts of Axel and Demyx behind me.

I had a rough idea of where I was and was pretty sure Sora's house wasn't too far from here. Despite my lacking mental mapping skills, I could always find Sora's house.

After about five minutes of running I was in more familiar territory. I slowed to a jog, slightly out of breath from all the sudden running. There was no sound of running behind me so I was confident that I was not in danger of being caught up by Axel or Demyx.

When Sora's house came into view I started running again, eager to find a slither of normalcy in my suddenly hectic life. I slammed my fist on the door several times and waited nervously for him to answer. I glanced around me for any sign of the two Nobodies or any Heartless. I did not want to be caught off guard by one of those again.

The door flew open with Sora standing behind it. I darted in and shut the door myself. Exhausted, I leaned against the door and slumped to the ground. Sora crouched down to my eye level and did something that surprised me.

He wrapped his arms around me and said,

"Oh my God I thought you had gone missing! I thought you had been kidnapped or murdered or….or something!"

Sora and I had been friends for as long as I could remember but we had never hugged each other before. He must have been really scared….

He pulled away and looked me straight in the eye. "Where the hell have you been?" Jeeze, was he bi-polar now? He goes from upset to manically angry in just a few seconds.

"Um, it's kind of hard to explain. You probably won't believe me…." I muttered. I hadn't actually thought about what I'd do or say when I got to Sora's.

"Rox, this is starting to sound like Narnia…Have you been to Narnia?" he asked, almost hopefully.

I shook my head and his face fell a little.

"No, no….listen, can I have a drink first?" I asked. I partly did this to buy some time to think everything through and because I was parched from the run to his house.

"Yeah, of course you can!" he said and bounded off to the kitchen. I shakily got up and followed him to the kitchen. I leaned against one of the wooden counters while Sora fished through the fridge for a fizzy drink for me. He tossed me a _7 -up_ and also opened one for himself.

"Is your Mum home?" I asked him. If Sora had realized I was missing then she would know as well. I didn't really want to have to explain where I had been to her: she'd never, ever believe me.

"Nah, she's out shopping. Probably won't be back for another couple of hours.

Good, that gave me time to explain everything. I took a sip of my drink and collected myself.

"Sora," he trained his gaze on me, making me feel a little uneasy and was strangely reminded on what had happened earlier in the day. "Here's the story…."

I told him about everything that happened, from the phone call from my Mum to the events that had taken place in the huge white building. I even told him about the existence of vampyres and pixies.

When I had finished I felt a sort of relief from having gotten it all off my chest. It also looked as if Sora had trusted every word that I said.

"Wait, wait, wait, you mean you're supposed to be like, some super awesome person because you aren't a completely mindless zombie right now?" Sora asked when I stopped talking.

"That's right," a voice said from the doorway. I spun around in surprise, dropping the (thankfully) empty drink can on the floor. It clattered and clanged as it rolled towards someone wearing a pair of black boots and dark jeans.

I looked up (stupid shortness) to see someone with toxic green eyes and wild red hair.

_Axel._

He stalked towards me and looped an arm around my shoulders. I was fixed with a stern look.

"Don't go pulling your little running stunt again, I don't appreciate having to scour every inch of the city for you," he chided. Had I felt more inclined to be polite to him, I would have apologized but I did not feel so inclined. I shrugged the arm off from around my shoulders and moved away so we were at a more respectful distance.

He looked a little hurt by this but seemed to brush it off.

"W-who are you?" Sora asked fearfully.

"Axel, got it memorized? I take it you're Sora?"

He nodded in confirmation and looked ever so slightly more relaxed; I had told him about Axel so he knew he had helped me…a little.

Axel continued, "Then I take it you're the same Sora responsible for making Roxie, here, run off in a hurry and causing me to spend over an hour looking for him? Oh and causing me to have the ever constant knowledge that if I didn't find him I would be skinned alive?"

Sora looked a little shocked at this and made no reply. Axel seemed to take it as a 'yes' though and grabbed my upper arm, attempting to drag me out the room. Like I said, though: _attempted_.

I dug my heels into the floor and pulled back on my arm. He only responded my pulling harder, making me stumble a bit.

"_Stop!_"

The voice put a halt to our little battle as we both looked back to Sora, who had finally snapped out of his little daze.

"You practically kidnapped Roxas and now you're trying to do it again!"

Axel sneered, "Oh ho! And what are you, Mundie, going to do about it?"

Sora did something that surprised us both. He launched himself at Axel and clung on like some sort of wild cat. Axel let go of me so he could try and dislodged Sora. I watched open mouthed as Sora punched and kicked at Axel. I didn't know he was capable of any of that….

After no success of getting Sora off him, Axel backed up into the wall. Drinking glasses smashed and Sora cried out a little and let go of Axel.

Axel distanced himself from the wall and spread both his arms wide. Flames licked at his finger-tips and soon enveloped his whole hands. From the flames a red chakram appeared in each hand. He moved into a fighting stance and stood in front of Sora.

"He's coming with me." He said simply. Sora stayed motionless, crouched on the floor amongst the broken glass.

He dismissed one chakram, grabbed my arm and hauled me out the door. I shared one last despairing glance with Sora. Neither of us really knew what was going to happen now. Axel definitely looked pissed with me…and he was still holding one of his chakrams.

**I hate this ending. A lot. Inspiration is kind of far off at the moment. And I'm depressed because I just got braces and can't eat properly. One of the things I love doing the most I can't even do anymore! Why! Never EVER give anyone hell about having braces; they hurt, usually look awful (or at least they do on me) which is really bad for self-esteem and stop you from eating all sorts of yummy food.**

**Okay, now that's over with….**

**[1] I changed some of the names because…..because I could really lol. Anyway, the spelling of vampyres is just the classic English style, Lycan is short for Lycanthrope which is a werewolf, pixie's in this are basically the same as fairies and warlocks are the same as in the book (part demon so they all have some sort of animalistic quality). Hope it all makes sense. And they're no different in what they are like in the books; they just have some different names.**

**I kind of realized that I haven't explained it all very well with the emotions and stuff but I might try and clear some more of that up next chapter. Any questions or suggestions, please don't hesitate to ask…or, uh, suggest. I'm planning on going back to This World because I've been neglecting it so don't expect any quick updates for C.o.S. Although the summer holidays are coming up and I just got a laptop in my room…..**

**Thanks,**

**Cipher. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Ugh, I suck at balancing stuff. I neglect one fic and then spend so much time on it I end up neglecting the other. If I have two kids they are doomed…..**

**A huge thank you to girly-girl12345, Lady Kittania and MysterySky8 for reviewing and to everyone who favourited, alerted and read this. It's good to know none of my work is going to waste.**

**I'm really sorry I haven't updated for so long; school is really hard this year - my English teacher is saying my work is grade D, I don't understand a thing we do in Maths (trust me, grammar schools are the worst). Basically I have to spend a lot more time studying now and I use my free period for art catch up which means no 1 hour writing slot anymore. I'm not giving up. Things might be a bit slower now though. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or The Mortal Instruments. **

I was back in the living room of the castle, receiving disapproving looks from everyone. Actually Axel and Demyx looked more annoyed, the girl I guessed was Larxene looked bored and Xigbar was the only one looking disapproving. I felt like I was at school in the Headmaster's office.

"I cannot believe you would be so stupid as to run off in broad daylight with no protection just to see some little Mundie friend of yours," Axel spat, glaring daggers at me. I avoided his stare by looking at my feet and to hide my own scowl; it was really starting to bug me how they all kept saying 'Mundie' as if it was a bad thing.

I clenched my hands into fists to try and channel the anger but it was hard to as Axel kept going.

"I mean, you're an inexperienced fighter, really easy to kill since you don't know any protective charms and a complete idiot!"

Why wasn't anyone stopping him? I was kind of expecting Xigbar to tell him to shut it but everyone just let him carry on. It was like being bullied right in front of your parents or something.

"What the hell was going through your head? Or is there anything in there?"

My hands were clenched so tightly I think I had pierced the skin with my nails. I gritted my teeth and looked up at Axel, not able to take it anymore.

"Maybe," I said, glowering at him, "I wanted to see my friend after my life had been turned upside down by your bloody Keyblades and Heartless so I could just feel a tiny bit normal and as if I were with someone who actually cared about me! I haven't had the chance to tell anyone where I've been these past three days and, quite frankly, I just want to go home. I don't belong here!" I nearly screamed the last part but I managed to regain some of my self-control.

I really wanted to hit something…preferably Axel. It looked like he could use a good punch in the face.

I was kind of hoping what I said would make everyone understand how lonely and lost I was but Axel only seemed further riled up.

"So you prioritise yourself over others, is that it? You were feeling a little homesick so you just waltz off home without a backward glance towards us; the very people who keep all your Mundie friends safe and risk their lives to keep balance!"

"I don't care what you do! The point is I have nothing to do with it! It's fine if you want to put your lives at risk, it's your choice but don't drag me into it!"

Axel looked like he wanted to tear his hair out – which I would be fine with me as it would be painful for him – and I probably looked pretty irritated myself.

"Why can't you understand that you're special? If you would just look past your own selfishness and fight the Heartless-"

"Oh, I'm selfish? Who is it trying to keep me here against my will just so you can all have it easy?" I seethed.

"_Enough!" _

Axel and I both whipped our heads around to look at Xigbar. He was pinching the bridge of his nose and had his eye shut tight, clearly in a lot of stress.

"Axel, you're not helping. Everyone leave so I can speak to Roxas in private."

Demyx looked glad to leave but Larxene looked as if she wished Xigbar hadn't said anything so she could keep watching the argument. Axel walked stiffly out of the room without a backward glance. I stayed in my seat and looked back down at my feet.

I just wanted this to all be a dream and wake with Cloud and Aerith back in our home. I didn't want to face the reality of what had happened. My home had been destroyed, I had no idea what happened to Cloud or my Mum and I had the notion that it was all somehow linked to me.

Xigbar pushed himself out of his seat and walked to the only window in the room. He said nothing and just gazed out at the view. For a few minutes the only sound was of our breathing.

"Roxas, tell me everything you remember and understand about our world and what we do as Nobodies," Xigbar instructed me.

That was the last thing I wanted to do but I sighed resignedly and tried to recall everything they had told me.

"You fight Heartless, you-"

"Do you know what exactly the Heartless are?" he interrupted me. I looked up at him but he was still turned towards the window with his back facing me.

The huge black creature I had seen at my house instantly came to mind but I struggled to come up with an answer to his question.

At my silence Xigbar spoke again.

"They are creatures of pure Darkness. They seek to claim the hearts of people which makes everyone with a heart vulnerable. As Nobodies, we are charged with the task of protecting everyone by destroying the Heartless. If they weren't kept at bay, I'm pretty sure the world would be overrun with them by now."

He turned to face me. He looked serious, a bit like a teacher that was giving a lesson about World War II - it was an important subject.

"We told you how when we defeat a Heartless the heart it releases – a heart shrouded in darkness – just pops back up somewhere else as another Heartless. However your Keyblade can get rid of the Heartless you defeat for good. That's because the Keyblade is a powerful weapon, full of Light, and usually needs that greatest sacrifice from the wielder: the eternal loss of their emotions and all intelligent thought."

He paused, thinking over his next words.

"Because you still have your emotions and intelligence, you can think to do what you will with the weapon. You could use it for the purpose it's supposed to be used for: to defeat Heartless and keep the balance of Light and Darkness. Every Keyblade Wielder before you hasn't been able to think what to do with the Keyblade and very few of them have used it to defeat a Heartless. You see, most Wielders are found by someone who has realized they can be ordered around like a slave. After that, they've only been used for evil. Do you see now why you're special?"

I nodded, thinking it all through. I could help them protect everyone if I used the Keyblade to defeat the Heartless that preyed upon people's hearts.

Xigbar walked back over to me and placed his hands firmly on my shoulders, having to crouch down a little because I was still sitting down. I looked up at him, a little intimidated by his battle-worn presence.

"You have to understand that with this power you are very vulnerable, especially since you have no combat skills. The Heartless will seek out you, for your heart, because you wield the weapon full of what they desire: Light. There are also those who seek to use you for other, darker, purposes."

_So that's why everyone was so mad at me for leaving._

"Because I'm this…possessor…of the Keyblade, you all want me to stay and fight. I really don't think I can do that though."

I stared straight into his eye, silently demanding he tell me the truth to my next question.

"If I say I don't want to fight, will you force me to anyway?"

The prospect of having to live a life full of fighting for some purpose that I probably wasn't even supposed to know about was frightening. I felt as if I was about to join the army, something I would never do. Anything physical had never really been my thing (except running, I was a pretty good runner). Imagine being forced to take a job in medical science when music was your forte. It was a stupid thing to happen; I couldn't sign up to a life of physical combat when I couldn't even kick a ball in P.E.

Xigbar looked like a deer caught in headlights. He let go of my shoulders and stood up. He looked anywhere but me when he answered.

"If I did let you go I would just be forced to tell the Clave."

"The what?" I asked.

"The Clave," he repeated. "They are the head group of all Nobodies, the group of authority. I would have to tell them about your existence and they would just come looking for you and force you to fight. It's just a lot easier, for everyone, if I just forced you now."

My shoulders sagged. Great, brilliant, fantastic. I was going to be held hostage here and made to fight of Heartless for the rest of my life. Goodbye, dreams of University and travelling. I shall spread your ashes in this white prison.

"However-"

I looked up excitedly when Xigbar spoke again. Maybe he was changing his mind!

"I don't think it's safe to put you out on the field before you've had battle training or before we find out exactly _what_ you are. If you're a Mundane you will not be as strong as the rest of us which means you'll need extra training."

My hopes disappeared but I tried to see the brighter side; at least I could find out what I was.

"I will contact the Witches; there may be something in your memory they can find. For now, you are free to leave but only with an escort."

I pouted to myself. I would probably get stuck with Axel forever more now. Ugh, how would I last with that cocky red-head?

"Is that okay?" he asked me.

I nodded and took my leave. My head was a mess of information, all these new things were too much to take in and properly respond to.

There was also the question of what to do now. Since I was allowed to leave I figured I should use this time to go and find Sora. Last I had seen of him, he was covered in glass and bruised from his fight with Axel.

I remembered that if I left I was supposed to take someone with me, but who? I couldn't ask Xigbar, he probably had more important things to do…something about witches he had said. Axel had beat up Sora last time they met, Larxene probably wouldn't even listen to me and Demyx was unreliable in how he would respond.

That guy was a jumble of emotions and behaviour. One minute he could act like your best friend and the next he hated my guts. That still left a chance that he would agree to 'escort' me out so I trailed through the Castle, looking for a dirty blonde mullet.

I was pretty sure at one point I was going round in circles but there were hardly any items in the always I could use as markers to remember my way. Just as I was about to give up and try to start finding the room I woke up in, I heard a strange noise coming from my left.

I curiously followed the noise which led me to another white door. It was ajar slightly so I peered in and raised my eyebrow at what I saw.

Demyx was playing this huge instrument that looked sort of like a guitar, the same one I realized that I had seen him with at the nightclub. Axel was sitting on the sofa opposite Demyx, looking slightly irked. Whether he was still mad at me or from Demyx's music, I could not tell.

Demyx then started singing the same song he had been when I first met him.

"_I've got a brand new combine harvester and I'll give you the key!_

_Come on now let's get together in perfect harmony!"_

Axel grimaced and reached out to the bridge of the instrument and muted the strings with his hand. Demyx's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and sucked in a breath.

"Hand. Off. Sitar. Now," he commanded.

Axel removed his hand and Demyx relaxed. So it was a sitar. I had never seen one of those before; I thought it looked kind of funny for a guitar.

"Why do you have to keep singing that song?" Axel asked, sounding exasperated.

"Because Mundie songs are so cool!"

I suppressed a laugh and moved away from the door. Demyx had the worst taste in music, much like Sora actually. I was reminded of what I came here to do but found it hard to pluck up the courage to do it.

I was worried about having to face Axel again in case he was still angry with me. I also lost the urge to ask Demyx to come with me as well. I took a breath but I still didn't want to face them.

_Some Keyblade wielder I am. Can't even ask someone for a favour, how am I gonna last against a Heartless?_

I shuddered as I thought about how that last one had knocked me out cold for three days straight. I didn't want to go out on my own again after Xigbar had told me that Heartless were going to be appearing more around me because of the Keyblade. There was no way I could hold off a monster like that. The only way I could go and see Sora and make it back in one piece was to have someone with me.

I rapped my knuckles on the door twice and waited for an answer.

"Come in," Demyx said a little hesitantly.

I opened the door all the way and stepped into the room a little. I braced myself for an onslaught of glares or more insults from Axel but he actually looked happy to see me.

"What did Xigbar say to you?" he questioned before I had time to speak.

That surprised me; I had thought he would already have guessed that he had explained everything to me.

"Uh, I have to stay here and learn how to fight and I'm only allowed out if I have someone escort me."

"That's all?" Axel asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Um, he told me about Heartless and said something about calling the 'Witches'."

"Whoa!" Demyx exclaimed.

"What?"

"You're gonna get your head raided by the Witches!" Axel said, a little too excitedly which worried me.

"Witches only usually do that sort of thing during trials. I hear it's really painful and there's a chance it could backfire and all your memories disappear," Demyx said which only worried me further. Maybe that was their plan; they would take away my memories and then I would automatically trust them and do their bidding.

"Demyx, don't scare him. That doesn't happen unless they mean it to. And it's illegal here, to strip someone of all their memories."

I calmed down a little but I wasn't entirely convinced. I decided to speak up and do what I came here to do.

"Um, I need an escort if I'm going to go out so would one of you, er, 'escort' me?" Oh God it sounded wrong when I said it but I kept my voice firm and looked at the far wall as I waited for an answer.

"Just where are you intending to go?" Axel asked suspiciously.

"To see Sora," I said.

"What for? You already saw him. Or are you so close you can't bear to be separate for more than an hour?"

"In case you forgot, you beat him up so I need to check he's okay. He's probably worried about me as well," I explained, ignoring his last remark. God he really pissed me off. It was practically murdering my ego to have to ask him to baby-sit me while I went out. I was fifteen for crying out loud, not five!

Axel searched my face for something but in the end sighed and agreed to come with me.

Demyx looked at Axel as if he didn't want him to go and tried to catch his eye. Axel completely ignored him and strolled over to me. He laced a lanky arm around my shoulders and guided me out.

"Come on, haven't got all day," he muttered.

I looked back at Demyx to see him scowling at me. I think it was safe to say he didn't like me.

**~C****i**_t__y __**o**__**f **_**S**_m__**o**__k__**e**_

"Hey, Axel?"

"Hm?"

"Does Demyx have a bi-polar disorder?"

We were sitting side by side on the bus as we went to Sora's house. It was late in the afternoon and I hoped Sora's Mum still wasn't home; it would be hard to explain my sudden appearance when I had been missing for a few days. Especially with Axel with me as he hadn't used a glamour.

Throughout the bus journey I had been thinking about why Demyx seemed kind of hostile towards me as we had left. I had an inner quarrel with myself about whether I should discuss this with Axel and finally figured, what the hell? They probably already thought I was a complete imbecile, might as well continue with that reputation.

"What makes you think that?" Axel looked questioningly down at me. I looked away and out the window of the bus, watching houses fly past.

"It's just….one moment he seems to be really happy and the next it's like he hates me."

There was a pause before Axel answered.

"I think…he's just feeling a little…neglected…since I've been taking care of you."

I could tell he was lying but decide not to push it; Axel was doing me a favour after all, by coming out with me. I didn't want to anger him because he had the authority to just drag me back to that Castle without seeing Sora.

We were quiet the rest of the bus ride and for the short walk to Sora's house. I relaxed a little when I saw no car in the driveway but that feeling fled when I thought how it didn't necessarily mean his Mum hadn't returned home yet. For all I knew his Mum had got home and taken Sora to the hospital or something.

I increased my pace as I thought about all this, praying Axel hadn't injured Sora too badly. Or smashed his house to hell.

I knocked on the front with Axel shadowing me. I would have preferred it if he would have waited outside but when I asked him to he just shook his head and smirked at me.

Sora answered the door and his face lit up when he saw me. His eyes flicked to Axel who was standing behind me and he glowered at him.

I noticed that Sora's right arm had a medium sized gash. I gasped. So he was injured.

"Sora, are you okay?" I asked hurriedly.

He ignored me and pointed at Axel.

"What's he still doing with you?"

I guess it kind of looked weird if you came to check on your best friend with the guy who beat him up who most likely had no intention of apologizing for it.

"Protection," I said simply, not wanting to explain it all. I looked pointedly at Sora's right arm and asked again, "Is your arm okay?"

He looked down at his arm and shrugged.

"Stings a little but its fine. What I'm worried about is how I'm going to explain all the missing glasses."

Sora opened the door wider and trailed back through the hall with Axel and I following him.

"I'm sorry," I gasped when we reached the kitchen. The shelf that held pretty much all of the drinking glasses in Sora's house was empty. It looked like Sora had swept up all the glass but I could see what he meant about not knowing how to explain it.

"It's not your fault," Sora said to me and shot a glare at Axel, silently communicating that it was his doing.

Axel must have noticed the look and he chuckled.

"If you're looking to place the blame, why not whoever put all those glasses on a shelf where it is easy for them to be knocked down and broken?"

"People don't usually come into my house and start pushing people up against walls."

"You were the one who started the fight. Got it memorized?"

I could see this turning into another fight very soon so I turned to Sora and spoke before he could retort to Axel.

"I'll pay for the glasses. Tell your Mum it was me who broke them and I will replace them all."

"Rox, it's _not_ your fault; this red head freak is the one who actually did it so if anything _he_ should be the one to pay."

I sighed. Sora seemed adamant that Axel was to blame and Axel was intent on riling Sora up.

I quickly decided that this was a bad idea.

"Maybe we should go," I interrupted Axel.

"Why? Rox, I don't understand why you have to go with them," Sora pleaded.

"I just have to. It's complicated."

Sora didn't look satisfied at my answer but Axel was over the moon.

"We're going? Good, I'm starved, let's go back and get something to eat," he said and, in the same manner as before, hooked an arm around my shoulders and pushed me out of the house.

I had a sense of déjà vu when I looked back at Sora to see him scowling, only this time it was directed at Axel.

**~C****i**_t__y __**o**__**f **_**S**_m__**o**__k__**e**_

Getting something to eat had just meant picking stuff out of the fridge apparently. I had completely lost my appetite so I left Axel alone with the fridge and tried to find the room I woke up in – I thought I might as well go and sleep in there.

As I was making my way through the winding maze of corridors I came face to face with Demyx.

_Oh crap._

He looked angry and stopped walking when he saw me. I stopped as well and then instantly cursed myself. Why didn't I keep going? This was a confrontation I wanted to avoid.

"Don't ask Axel to take you out again."

"What?"

"You heard me. When he goes out I'm the one who watches his back and I can't save him if he's attacked while you're off gallivanting with him."

He glared at me and I lost all inclination to be nice to him at that point.

"Well don't say it like I was supposed to know that. Maybe if you'd spoken up when I asked earlier that could have been avoided."

His face turned red and he advanced towards me. I held my ground, trying to appear braver than I felt.

"Axel never listens to me but he hangs on your every word. I bet you think you've got him wrapped around your fingers!"

He was practically in my face but I looked defiantly up at him. I suddenly realized what Demyx had said and heard the unspoken part.

"You're jealous?" I asked incredulously. What was he, a teenage girl with a mullet?

Demyx paled but then narrowed his eyes further. We both knew what was going on and I knew I wasn't supposed to know.

"Uh Demyx," I tried to start redeeming myself but he didn't want to listen.

"Don't say anything about this to him!" he commanded, his voice like ice. He pushed past me and stalked off down the hallways and out of sight.

I didn't think it was possible but I had managed to get myself into an even bigger mess. Demyx was in love with Axel but thought I was trying to steal him away or something?

After much searching I found the room I woke up in and collapsed on the bed. I kicked off my shoes and buried my face into the white pillow, promptly falling asleep.

**And there we are! **

**Okay, please leave a review, I love to know what everyone thinks and everyone's thoughts are valued :) **

**I shall get to the next chapter as soon as possible (without jeapordizing my school work) which shall contain the memory-raiding witches (I bet we can all guess who that's gonna be XD)**

**Thanks for reading,**

**Cipher.**


	7. AN

Right, this isn't easy to say but I'll try my best to explain.

**City of Smoke by Cipher-of-Will is hereby discontinued.** ** I will not be uploading or editing any more chapters. As readers you have every right to know why. **

I am, quite simply, not motivated to write this story any more and my writing style has changed _completely_. I struggle to write anything light and funny anymore. This is because I am trying to get more mature in my writing and don't want to change it back to a style I was never totally happy with.

Also, City of Smoke is barely a story of mine; the idea is Cassandra Clare's and the characters I use belong to Square Enix. I have my own plot ideas and characters I want to work with - and have already started working with - which makes me feel like when I'm writing it is for a purpose that might help me make a difference in life.

There are a lot of family problems as well as stressful situations. I might not pass some of my GCSE's, if I do pass then I will be swamped with work and my Dad is moving away which is upsetting.

Originally this story was not going to be continued at all; I used it to see if I could get the layout of a fic right. I want to thank everyone who took an interest in something that was never meant to be and apologise for letting you down. Everyone hates it when a story is discontinued, even the author who is declaring it so, but it's worse when a story is completely abandoned with no notice that it has been discontinued.

If anyone would like to carry on this story, please, be my guest. If you do want to can I ask a tiny favour in return? Just let me know via a PM or a reiew to this fic (I won't delete this story. If it does get deleted it has not been my doing) if you are going to carry it on so I can check it out. I'm also happy to give help if anyone is interested in adopting, such as plot ideas and characters. I just don't feel I can write it myself anymore.

Hopefully no one is too upset with me and I must once again deeply apologise for this. You can still check out my finished fic 'This World' and my unfinished work 'The Thirteenth'. I hope everyone continues to enjoy the fabulous work of Cassandra Clare (future books and a film!) and the inspiring games of Square Enix (especially Kingdom Hearts!).

Thanks for reading,

**Cipher.**


	8. AN Adoption Notice

Okay I have some good news for everyone!

**Kirachan2** and **Lele-the-Greek-Geek** have both volunteered to adopt City of Smoke and I have given the story to both of them to continue separately. So look out for their work!

I would also like to say a massive **thank you** to both of them for taking City of Smoke off my hands and wish them luck!

Thanks for reading,

**Cipher.**


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